Broadcast management unit and method for providing digital content to a user equipment, user equipment and method for receiving digital content

ABSTRACT

A method in, and a Broadcast Management unit ( 130 ) for providing digital content to a user equipment ( 120 ), and a method in, and a user equipment ( 120 ) for receiving digital content. The user equipment ( 120 ) is served by a base station ( 110 ) in a cell ( 115 ) of a cellular communications network ( 100 ). The Broadcast Management unit decides ( 301 ) to provide a digital content by broadcast or multicast in a service area ( 105 ) comprising the cell ( 115 ), instead of only letting the digital content be available in the service area ( 105 ) by unicast. The Broadcast Management unit provides ( 302 - 304 ), in response to the decision, broadcast or multicast of the digital content in the service area ( 105 ), thereby enabling reception of the digital content by the user equipment ( 120 ) via the base station ( 110 ) and by one or more additional user equipments ( 121, 122, 123 ) being served in the service area ( 105 ). As a result, improvement of performance is enabled in the cellular communications network.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a 35 U.S.C. §371 National Phase Entry Applicationfrom PCT/EP2012/068769, filed Sept. 24, 2012, and designating the UnitedStates.

TECHNICAL FIELD

Embodiments herein relate a method in a Broadcast Management unit, aBroadcast Management unit, a method in a user equipment and a userequipment. In particular embodiments herein relate to providing digitalcontent to a user equipment in a cellular communications network.

BACKGROUND

Communication devices such as User Equipments (UEs) are also known ase.g. mobile terminals, wireless terminals and/or mobile stations. A userequipment is enabled to communicate wirelessly in a cellularcommunications network, wireless communications system, or radiocommunications system, sometimes also referred to as a cellular radiosystem or cellular network. The communication may be performed e.g.between two user equipments, between a user equipment and a regulartelephone and/or between a user equipment and a server via a RadioAccess Network (RAN) and possibly one or more core networks, comprisedwithin the cellular communications network.

The user equipment may further be referred to as a mobile telephone,cellular telephone, laptop, Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), tabletcomputer, surf plate, just to mention some further examples. The userequipment in the present context may be, for example, portable,pocket-storable, hand-held, computer-comprised, or vehicle-mountedmobile device, enabled to communicate voice and/or data, via the RAN,with another entity, such as another user equipment or a server.

The cellular communications network covers a geographical area which isdivided into cell areas, wherein each cell area being served by a basestation, e.g. a Radio Base Station (RBS), which sometimes may bereferred to as e.g. “eNB”, “eNodeB”, “NodeB”, “B node”, or BTS (BaseTransceiver Station), depending on the technology and terminology used.The base stations may be of different classes such as e.g. macro eNodeB,home eNodeB or pico base station, based on transmission power andthereby also cell size. A cell is the geographical area where radiocoverage is provided by the base station at a base station site. By thebase station serving a cell is meant that the radio coverage is providedsuch that one or more user equipments located in the geographical areawhere the radio coverage is provided may be served by the base station.One base station may serve one or several cells. Further, each basestation may support one or several communication technologies. The basestations communicate over the air interface operating on radiofrequencies with the user equipment within range of the base stations.

In some RANs, several base stations may be connected, e.g. by landlinesor microwave, to a radio network controller, e.g. a Radio NetworkController (RNC) in Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS),and/or to each other. The radio network controller, also sometimestermed a Base Station Controller (BSC) e.g. in GSM, may supervise andcoordinate various activities of the plural base stations connectedthereto. GSM is an abbreviation for Global System for MobileCommunications (originally: Groupe Spécial Mobile).

In 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) Long Term Evolution (LTE),base stations, which may be referred to as eNodeBs or eNBs, may bedirectly connected to one or more core networks.

UMTS is a third generation mobile communication system, which evolvedfrom the GSM, and is intended to provide improved mobile communicationservices based on Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA) accesstechnology. UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access Network (UTRAN) is essentiallya radio access network using wideband code division multiple access foruser equipments. The 3GPP has undertaken to evolve further the UTRAN andGSM based radio access network technologies, for example into evolvedUTRAN (E-UTRAN) used in LTE.

In the context of this disclosure, the expression downlink (DL) is usedfor the transmission path from the base station to the user equipment.The expression uplink (UL) is used for the transmission path in theopposite direction i.e. from the user equipment to the base station.

In a cellular communications network various services are provided, viabase stations to user equipments being served in the cells thereof, suchas voice communication services and data services available on or viathe Internet, or other local data networks. The data services may beservices available on the World Wide Web (WWW), typically accessible toa user equipment via a web browser application installed thereon, ordata services that are available via other protocols and/or relevantonly to more specific applications or software installed on the userequipment. Using such data services involves download of digital contentto the user equipment. Certain parts of the cellular communicationsnetwork are responsible for identifying user equipments that requestsuch data services and then makes sure that the service is provided tothe user equipment via the base station serving the user equipment,preferably in such way that the user of the user equipment doesexperience any negative impact from the fact that the service isprovided via the cellular communications network. For example, a userthat uses an application executing on a user equipment, e.g. a webbrowser, for accessing digital content on the Internet, simply wants theaccess without having to care of, or be negatively affected, by the factthat the connection is via the cellular communications network.

However, there are certain problems associated with the desire toprovide such user experience. One problem is the fact the there is alimited bandwidth in each cell and thereby restrictions in how many userequipments that may be guaranteed a certain quality of service at thesame time. By a continuously increasing number of user equipments andincreasing usage of data services in cellular communications networks oftoday, the problem is becoming increasingly greater. Even if the overallcapacity is increased there will still be a certain maximal amount ofbandwidth available in each cell for the delivery of digital content forthe data services, and there may be usage peaks where it would bedesirable to provide digital content to user equipments in a cell atsuch amount and rate that would exceed the capacity of the cell. Whenthis happens the result is a poor user experience, e.g. bad performanceof the data service, errors in the digital content and/or data service,or even non-access to the requested digital content or non-availabilityof the data service.

SUMMARY

An object of embodiments herein is to provide a way of improving theperformance in a cellular communications network. More specifically theobject is to enable improved user experience for users of userequipments in a cellular communications network when the user equipmentsare utilizing data services provided in the cellular communicationsnetwork for accessing digital content.

According to a first aspect of embodiments herein, the object isachieved by a method in a Broadcast Management unit for providingdigital content to a user equipment. The user equipment is served by abase station in a cell of a cellular communications network. The basestation is comprised in a radio access network of the cellularcommunications network. The Broadcast Management unit is comprised in acore network of the cellular communications network. The BroadcastManagement unit decides to provide a digital content by broadcast ormulticast in a service area comprising the cell, instead of only lettingthe digital content be available in the service area by unicast. TheBroadcast Management unit then provides, in response to the decision,broadcast or multicast of the digital content in the service area,thereby enabling reception of the digital content by the user equipmentvia the base station and by one or more additional user equipments beingserved in the service area.

According to a second aspect of embodiments herein, the object isachieved by a method in a user equipment for receiving a digitalcontent. The user equipment is served by a base station in a cell of acellular communications network. The base station is comprised in aradio access network of the cellular communications network. The userequipment registers a request for retrieving the digital content. Theuser equipment identifies, in response to the registered request, thatthe digital content is available from broadcast or multicast provided inthe cell via the base station. The user equipment then receives, inresponse to the identified availability, the digital content from theprovided broadcast or multicast via the base station instead ofreceiving the digital content from unicast via the base station.

According to a third aspect of embodiments herein, the object isachieved by a Broadcast Management unit for providing digital content toa user equipment. The user equipment is served by a base station in acell of a cellular communications network. The base station is comprisedin a radio access network of the cellular communications network. TheBroadcast Management unit is comprised in a core network of the cellularcommunications network. The Broadcast Management unit comprises adeciding circuitry, configured to decide to provide a digital content bybroadcast or multicast in a service area comprising the cell, instead ofonly letting the digital content be available in the service area byunicast. The Broadcast Management unit further comprises a providingcircuitry, configured to, in response to the decision, provide broadcastor multicast of the digital content in the service area, therebyenabling reception of the digital content by the user equipment via thebase station and by one or more additional user equipments being servedin the service area.

According to a fourth aspect of embodiments herein, the object isachieved by a user equipment for receiving digital content. The userequipment is configured to be served by a base station in a cell of acellular communications network. The base station is comprised in aradio access network of the cellular communications network. The userequipment comprises a registering circuitry, configured to register arequest for retrieving the digital content. The user equipment alsocomprises an identifying circuitry, configured to identify, in responseto the registered request, that the digital content is available frombroadcast or multicast provided in the cell via the base station.Moreover, the user equipment comprises a receiving port, configured to,in response to the identified availability, receive the digital contentfrom the provided broadcast or multicast via the base station instead ofreceiving the digital content from unicast via the base station.

By digital content is here meant digital content that is provided byservices available to the user equipment. The digital content istypically data from the internet, e.g. available on the World Wide Web(WWW), often referred to as web content, but may also be other kind ofdigital content. For example, digital content may relate to a web radiotransmission for reception by an application running on the userequipment, a video clip for view on the user equipment, a web-page forexecution and display using a web-browser executing on the userequipment, application specific digital content, a downloadable newfirmware or application for execution on the user equipment, just tomention some examples. The digital content may correspond to a singledata file or a group of data files. The digital content may be liveand/or streamed digital content.

By providing the broadcast or multicast of the digital content insteadof unicast, the result is sending and addressing of one and the samecopy of the digital content for reception by the user equipment and theone or more additional user equipments, i.e. multiple user equipments,at the same time. This instead of sending and addressing a separate copyof the digital content to each one of the multiple user equipments.Hence multiple unicast downlink transmissions, one for each one of theuser equipment and the one and more additional user equipments, whereeach unicast transmission requires a certain bandwidth, are possible toreplace by the provided broadcast or multicast with a bandwidth that isindependent on the number of receiving user equipments. It is realizedthat this may be used to reduce the risk of capacity overload in theservice area, such as in the cell serving the user equipment. Therebythe risk of negative user experiences is reduced in the cellularcommunications network, and an improved user experience is enabled forusers of the user equipment and the one and more additional userequipments, which users are utilizing data services in the cellularcommunications network for accessing digital content.

Further advantages for example include:

By user equipments receiving digital content by broadcast or multicastinstead of by unicast, reduced signaling in the cell and the servicearea is enabled and less resources may need to be allocated. Forexample, in LTE less resource blocks may need to be allocated forspecific user equipments.

Bandwidth may be freed and used for other purpose and/or it is enabledto improve the user experience by e.g. deliver the digital content athigher rates while allocating the same or even less bandwidth in thecell.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Examples of embodiments herein are described in more detail withreference to the appended schematic drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram depicting an example of a cellularcommunications network.

FIG. 2 is a schematic block diagram depicting another view of theexample in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a combined signaling diagram and flowchart illustratingembodiments herein.

FIG. 4 is another combined signaling diagram and flowchart illustratingembodiments herein.

FIG. 5 is a flow chart illustrating a method in a Broadcast Managementunit according to embodiments herein.

FIG. 6 is a schematic block diagram illustrating a Broadcast Managementunit according to embodiments herein.

FIG. 7 is a flow chart illustrating a method in a user equipmentaccording to embodiments herein.

FIG. 8 is a schematic block diagram illustrating a user equipmentaccording to embodiments herein.

DESCRIPTION

Multimedia Broadcast Multicast Services (MBMS) is a point-to-multipointinterface specification for existing and upcoming 3GPP cellularnetworks, which is designed to provide efficient delivery of broadcastand multicast services. See for example:

ETSI TS 123 246 V9.6.0 (2012-01): Universal Mobile TelecommunicationsSystem (UMTS); LTE; Multimedia Broadcast/Multicast Service (MBMS);Architecture and functional description (3GPP TS 23.246 version 9.6.0Release 9),

ETSI TS 125 346 V9.1.0 (2010-04): Universal Mobile TelecommunicationsSystem (UMTS); Introduction of the Multimedia Broadcast/MulticastService (MBMS) in the Radio Access Network (RAN); Stage 2 (3GPP TS25.346 version 9.1.0 Release 9), and

ETSI TS 136 300 V9.9.0 (2012-01): LTE; Evolved Universal TerrestrialRadio Access (E-UTRA) and Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio AccessNetwork (E-UTRAN); Overall description; Stage 2 (3GPP TS 36.300 version9.9.0 Release 9), Section 15 MBMS.

MBMS for LTE may generally be referred to as evolved MBMS (eMBMS). Theembodiments herein are compatible with and may preferably be implementedin a cellular communications network, in particular LTE-based, thatsupport MBMS, i.e. eMBMS. This should be appreciated by the skilledperson from the examples that will follow.

FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram depicting an example of a cellularcommunications network 100. In the shown example the cellularcommunications network 100 corresponds to an LTE based network, asshould be recognized by the skilled person. As indicated in the figure,the network 100 comprises an Evolved Packet Core (EPC) 101, beingexample of a core network, and an Evolved UMTS Terrestrial Radio AccessNetwork (E-UTRAN) 102, being example of a RAN.

The shown cellular communications network 100 further comprises a basestation 110 serving a cell 115 and a base station 111 serving a cell116. The base stations 110, 111 are named eNB in the figure, which isthe common denomination used for a base station in LTE-based networks.

Located and served in cell 115 is a user equipment 120 and a userequipment 121 and located and served in cell 116 is a user equipment 123and a user equipment 124. Both the cell 115 and the cell 116 are locatedin a service area 105. The service area 105 may be defined by the cellsthat it comprises or may defined by a geographical area and thereby willcomprise cells in the same geographical area. The service area 105 willbe further discussed below.

The shown arrows in FIG. 1 indicate paths for communication of userplane data, such as communication of digital content that may resultfrom that the user equipments 120, 121, 122, 123, 124 are utilizing dataservices provided in the cellular communications network 100 foraccessing digital content.

Still referring to FIG. 1, the cellular communications network 100further comprises a Packet Data Network (PDN) Gateway 142 and a ServingGateway 143, as known from LTE. The PDN Gateway 142 is an example of aninterface between an internal IP network of the operator of the cellularcommunication network 100 and an external network 50. The externalnetwork 50 may e.g. be the Internet. In LTE, the Serving Gateway 143 hasa main task of tunneling user plane data between the PDN Gateway 142 andthe base stations 110, 111. The PDN Gateway 142 and the Serving Gateway143 are logical units in LTE, which logical units may be implemented inthe same physical unit, but more typically in separate physical unitsand as separate network nodes in the cellular communications network100, in particular in the EPC 101 thereof.

The shown cellular communications network 100 also comprises a MBMSGateWay (MBMS GW) 132 and a Broadcast Multicast Service Center (BMSC)131. The general role, task and interrelations of the MBMS GW 132 and aBMSC 131 may be in accordance with the above mentioned 3GPPspecifications relating to MBMS for LTE, i.e eMBMS. Hence, the MBMS GW132 may i.a. provide functionality for sending of MBMS packetscomprising the digital content to the base stations 110, 111 forbroadcast or multicast in the cells 115, 116. The MBMS GW 132 may use IPmulticast as a means for forwarding MBMS user plane data, such as thedigital content in the MBMS packets, to the base stations 110, 111. Notethat this may be the case even though the digital content is beingprovided by broadcast in the respective cells. The BMSC 131 may i.a. beresponsible for delivering user plane data, such as the digital content,to the MBMS GW 132. The BMSC 131 may also provide a number of servicelayer function such as Forward Error Correction (FEC) and file Repair inorder to ensure Quality of Service (QoS) in delivery of the digitalcontent to the user equipments 120, 121, 122, 123. Also, ServiceAnnouncements of what is available by broadcast or multicast to the userequipments, such as user equipment 120, may be provided as a servicelayer function by the BMSC 131.

The shown cellular communications network 100 also comprises a BroadcastManagement unit 130 for providing the digital content to the userequipments 120, 121, 122, 123, by e.g. controlling the BMSC 131,directly, via and/or with support from one or more support units 133that will be further discussed below. The Broadcast Management unit 130may e.g. be involved in and/or responsible for deciding what digitalcontent to provide and when and where it shall be provided for thebroadcast or multicast. Or in other words, the Broadcast Management unit130 may be involved in and/or responsible for providing, planning andscheduling the provision the digital content for the broadcast ormulticast. The Broadcast Management unit 130 may also be involved inand/or responsible for monitoring tasks, archiving tasks, and/or providesupport to various organizations, typically within or connected to theoperators of the cellular communications network 100, such as to networkoperations, service operations, customer care and also co-operatingorganizations, e.g. service providers of digital content. The BroadcastManagement unit 130 will be further discussed below. The MBMS GW 132 andthe BMSC 131 are logical units, which may be implemented in a respectivecorresponding physical unit or units, or together with other logicalunits or functionality in one or more shared physical units.Furthermore, the MBMS GW 132 and the BMSC 131 typically representseparate network nodes in the cellular communications network 100, moreparticularly in the EPC 101 thereof. The Broadcast Management unit 130is a logical unit that may be implemented in a corresponding physicalunit or units, or together with other logical units or functionality inone or more shared physical units. The Broadcast Management unit 130may, but not necessary, correspond to a network node in the cellularcommunications network 100, such as in the EPC 130 in case of an LTEbased cellular communications network 100.

As illustrated in FIG. 1, the cellular communications network 100 mayfurther comprise one or more support units 133 that may becommunicatively connected to the BMSC 131, the Broadcast Management unit130 and/or to each other. The one or more support units 133 may e.g.comprise a content providing unit and/or a data carousel providing unitand/or a scheduling unit. The content providing unit may e.g. providedigital content from one or more sources to the BMSC 131 and/or to thedata carousel providing unit. Digital content and examples thereof isdiscussed in some detail below. One source may be the external network50, e.g. the Internet, from which the digital content may be retrievedvia the PDN Gateway 142 or via some other connection. Another source maybe digital content provided by e.g. the operator of the cellularcommunication network 100 exclusively for the broadcast or multicast,and which digital content thus may not be available from or via theexternal network 50. Yet another source may be one or more encoders orre-encoders for content that is relevant to transform before beingsubject to broadcast or multicast, e.g. analogue content and/or contentin an inappropriate digital format. For example, digital contentproduced for another kind of system, e.g. television, such as videocontent from television satellites may be inappropriate to use directlyin a network based on LTE and eMBMS. The content providing unit mayfurther comprise and/or be configured to retrieve digital content fromone or more storages in the cellular communications network 100,typically in the EPC 101. The one or more storages may be comprised inthe content providing unit. Some or all of the one or more storages maybe in a physical unit that corresponds to the content providing unit,and/or some or all of the one or more storages may be in one or morephysical units that are separate from a physical unit comprising thecontent providing unit. Digital content that has been stored in and isavailable from the one or more storages in the cellular communicationsnetwork 100 enable a faster response to a decision to provide thedigital content by broadcast or multicast and may also guaranteeavailability and quality of the digital content to be used for thebroadcast or multicast. In some embodiments, one or more such storagesmay be connected to the PDN Gateway 142 and the BMSC 131 and beconfigured, e.g. via the PDN Gateway 142, to store digital content thatpreviously has been requested and delivered by unicast to userequipments in the cellular communication network 100, e.g. one or moreof the user equipments 120-123, and which digital content is suchconsidered relevant as a candidate for broadcast or multicast. TheBroadcast Management unit 130 may be responsible for configuring whatand when to store something in the one or more storages. For example,the one or more storages may be configured to store all, or certaintypes of, digital content delivered via unicast, but only keep it in theone or more storages as long as it is frequently requested by userequipments, e.g. including the user equipments 120-123, which may betaken as an indication that it is a potential candidate to receive adecision to provide it by broadcast or multicast. As will be furtherdiscussed below, a decision to provide the digital content by broadcastor multicast may be based on one or more measures and/or parameters.Some of the measures and/or parameters corresponds to threshold values.For a decision to store the digital content in advance in the one ormore storages, a corresponding but somewhat less restrictive thresholdvalues than for taking the actual decision may be used. This may be usedto guarantee availability of the digital content in the one or morestorages when a decision to provide certain digital content by broadcastor multicast is taken.

Still referring to FIG. 1 and the one or more support units 133. Thescheduling unit that may be comprised in the one or more support units133 may e.g. provide information about when to start and/or stop and/orchange the broadcast or multicast, e.g. when to add or remove thedigital content from the broadcast or multicast. The data carouselproviding unit that may be comprised in the one or more support units133 may e.g. provide a data carousel where digital content that has beenretrieved for the broadcast or multicast is inserted. By broadcast ofthe data carousel, the digital content will repeatedly occur in thebroadcast or multicast. As should be understood, a data carousel ismanly relevant for digital content corresponding to data files but notstreaming data. For example, by providing a file of digital content in adata carousel, the file of digital content is made more suitable forcontinuous broadcast or multicast and to be provided by broadcast ormulticast at the same time together with other digital content. Theother digital content may be comprised in the same or another datacarousel, or may be such that is already provided as a data stream, e.g.a web radio transmission. The scheduling unit may operate directly onthe data carousel providing unit so that a data carousel comprisingproperly scheduled digital content may be provided to the BMSC 131.

In some embodiments, one or more supporting units 133 may be arespective logical unit that may be implemented in one and the samephysical unit as e.g. the BMSC 131 or the Broadcast Management unit 130.In some embodiments, one or more support units may be a respectivelogical unit that corresponds to a separate physical unit.

FIG. 2 is a schematic block diagram depicting another view of theexample in FIG. 1, here regarding session control signaling, instead ofcommunication of user plane data as in FIG. 1. The two different vieware for reducing complexity in each view for readability reasons. Thedifference between session control signaling and communication of userplane data, should be well known to the person skilled in cellularcommunications network, in particular LTE. For example, session controlsignaling typically involve setting up and configuring data bearers thatare used for the communication of user plane data. Hence, the cellularcommunications network 100 may also comprise a Mobility ManagementEntity (MME) 140, known from e.g. LTE, that communicates with the eNBs,here base stations 110 and 111, and the Serving Gateway 143. The MME 140may be regarded as main responsible for the session control signalingand setting up and configuring of data bearers for user plane traffic toand from the user equipments. This is also the case for MBMS relatedtraffic for LTE, but where the MME 140, as shown, communicates with theMBMS GW 132 instead of the Serving Gateway 143. In case of data bearersthat are MBMS related, the MME 140 may not communicate directly with theeNBs, here base stations 110, 111, but via a Multi-cell/multicastCoordination Entity (MCE) 134, as shown in FIG. 2. The MME 140 is alogical unit, which may be implemented in a corresponding physical unit,or together with other logical units or functionality in one or moreshared physical units. The MME 140 is a network node in the cellularcommunications network 100, or more particularly, as shown, in the EPC101 thereof. The MCE 134 is also a logical unit, which may beimplemented in a corresponding physical unit, or together with otherlogical units or functionality in one or more shared physical units. Forexample, there may be one MME 134 that corresponds to a physical unitcommunicably connected to several base stations, such as with basestations 110, 111, as shown in FIG. 2, or there may be several MMEs, arespective one for and integrated with each base station.

Session control signaling for embodiments herein when implemented in anLTE and eMBMS based cellular communications network 100, as shown inFIGS. 1 and FIG. 2, may follow normal procedures and will therefore notbe discussed in any further detail in the following. For example, howthe BMSC 131 has been configured and what digital content to broadcastor multicast, does not affect the procedures for the session controlsignaling as such. The skilled person with knowledge of LTE and eMBMSwill realize what session control signaling will be involved and may beneeded for implementation of embodiments herein.

When the digital content is provided by broadcast or multicast insteadof unicast, the result is that one and the same copy of the digitalcontent may be received by multiple user equipments at the same time,instead of sending and addressing a separate copy of the digital contentto each one of multiple user equipments, e.g. each one of the userequipments 120-123, as in the case of unicast. Hence multiple unicastdownlink transmissions, e.g. one for each one of individual userequipments, where each unicast transmission would require a certainbandwidth, are possible to replace by broadcast or multicast with abandwidth that is independent on the number of receiving userequipments. This may be used to reduce the risk of capacity overload inthe cell or cells subject to the broadcast or multicast. However, thisdoes not happen automatically just because e.g an LTE based cellularcommunications network is supporting eMBMS. For example, not all digitalcontent may be subject for broadcast or multicast so there must be adecision of what to broadcast or multicast, and also when and where todo it. Another issue is how to get a user equipment to receive andutilize the digital content. This will be dealt with in the following,in context of embodiments herein.

However, first it is again reminded that FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 are onlyschematic and for exemplifying purpose. The cellular communicationsnetwork 100 may in reality comprise several further cells, basestations, user equipments, and other network nodes, including managemententities, which are not shown herein. Hence, the situation shown in FIG.1 and FIG. 2 and discussed above, is not in every detail a prerequisitefor embodiments herein, as should be understood by the skilled person,and in particular when considering the present application as a whole.For example, FIG. 1 only shows one service area, while embodimentsherein are relevant also when the cellular communications network 100comprises several service areas, for example a respective service areafor each population dense area, such as city area, with an expected orknown high utilization degree of the capacity provided by the cells ofthe cellular communications network 100 in that area. Also, in FIG. 1and FIG. 2 it is only shown two cells 115, 116 in the shown service area105, however, in some embodiments there may be one or more service areascomprising only a single cell, i.e. the service area 105 may correspondto a single cell, although a more typical situation is that the servicearea 105 comprises say at least ten, hundreds or even thousand cells,for example every cell in a large city.

Embodiments herein relating to a method in the Broadcast management unit130 for providing digital content to the user equipment 120, will now bedescribed with reference to the combined signaling diagram and flowchartdepicted in FIG. 3. The actions may be taken in any suitable order.

Action 301

The Broadcast Management unit 130 decides to provide a digital contentby broadcast or multicast in the service area 105, including the cell115.

The digital content is typically data from the internet, e.g. availableon the World Wide Web (WWW), often referred to as web content, but mayalso be other kind of digital content. For example, digital content mayrelate to a web radio transmission for reception by an applicationrunning on the user equipment, a video clip for view on the userequipment, a web-page for execution and display using a web-browserexecuting on the user equipment, any application specific digitalcontent, a downloadable new firmware or application for execution on theuser equipment, just to mention some examples. The digital content maycorrespond to a single data file or a group of data files. The digitalcontent may be live and/or streamed digital content. The digital contentmay correspond to digital content available on the Internet and thatnormally is only available to the user equipment 120 by unicast.

The deciding may be based on one or more measures and/or parameters,which will be discussed separately below.

Action 302

The Broadcast Management unit 130 sends, in response to the decision inAction 301, a configuration for configuring the BMSC 131 to accomplishthe broadcast or multicast according to the decision.

The configuration may comprise one or more of the following: anidentifier of the digital content so that the BMSC 131 is able to fetchand use the digital content for the broadcast or multicast, anidentifier of the cell 115 where the broadcast or multicast is to beprovided, a bandwidth and/or bandwidth limits to be used for thebroadcast or multicast, information about when to start and/or when tostop the broadcast or multicast of the digital content.

The identifier of the digital content may refer to digital contentprovided from the one or more supporting units 133 discussed above, e.g.the content providing unit or the data carousel providing unit, or maybe an identifier referring to content available elsewhere, e.g. in theexternal network 50, such as the Internet. An identifier of the servicearea 105 may be regarded an identifier of the cell 115 when it is knownthat the cell 115 is comprised in the service area 105. In someembodiments the cell 115 may be predetermined for the broadcast ormulticast and thereby may be already known to the BMSC 131 and thus noidentifier of the cell 115 need to be comprised in the configuration.This may e.g. be the case for embodiments where the BMSC 131 isconfigured to serve one and the same, or even is associated with onlyone, service area in the cellular communications network 100.

In some embodiments, support for providing the broadcast or multicast isprovided by the one or more support units 133. In embodiments with oneor more support units 133, the BMSC 131 may use the receivedconfiguration to configure and/or instruct one or more of the supportingunits to provide the support. In some embodiments, the configuration maybe sent by the Broadcast Management unit 130 to one or more of thesupporting units 133 that may forward it to the BMSC 131 or may use itto further configure and/or instruct the BMSC and/or one or more othersupporting units.

In some embodiments there may be several configurations and/orinstructions sent by the Broadcast Management unit 130. One or more ofsaid several configurations and/or instructions may be sent torespective one or more supporting units 133 to make the one or moresupporting units 133 provide the support. For example, the decision bythe Broadcast Management unit 130 to provide the digital content bybroadcast or multicast in the service area 105 may in some embodimentsbe followed by that the Broadcast Management unit 130, in responsethereto, sends a configuration to the scheduling unit comprised in theone or more supporting units 133. The scheduling unit may then, inresponse, schedule the broadcast or multicast. The scheduling unit maythen, in accordance with the schedule, initiate the broadcast ormulticast directly with the BMSC 131, via the Broadcast Management unit130 or via the data carousel unit also comprised in the one or moresupporting units 133. When the data carousel unit is involved, the datacarousel unit may fetch the digital content from or via the contentproviding unit, also comprised in the one or more support units 133, andmay then provide a data carousel comprising the digital content to theBMSC 131 for accomplishing the broadcast or the multicast. The BMSC 131may fetch the digital content for the broadcast or multicast from or viathe content providing unit, e.g. such digital content that is not firstto be arranged in a data carousel by the data carousel unit.

Action 303

The BMSC 131 fetches the digital content for the broadcast or multicastin response to received configuration. The BMSC 131 may fetch thedigital content from the external network 50, e.g. the Internet, via thePDN Gateway 142, or the digital content may be fetched from within thecellular communications network 100. In some embodiments it is fetchedfrom or via the content providing unit comprised in the one or moresupporting units 133, discussed above. Note that even in a case when theBMSC 131, in response to the received configuration, fetches the digitalcontent from the external network 50 instead from an internal storage ofe.g. the content providing unit as discussed above, the fetched digitalcontent may still be stored temporarily in an internal storage, e.g.located in the BMSC 131 or in the data carousel unit as discussed above,until it is time to use the digital content to provide the broadcast ormulticast, e.g. by adding the digital content to a data carousel subjectto the broadcast or multicast.

Action 304

The BMSC 131 sends the fetched digital content, via the MBMS GW 132, tothe base station 110 for broadcast or multicast in the cell 115.

In some embodiments the digital content may be tagged in the providedbroadcast or multicast, such that the user equipment 120, based on thetagged digital content and a user profile of, or setting in, the userequipment 120, is able to determine that the digital content is relevantfor receiving and/or keeping. The tagging may be made for one or moreprofile groups of user equipments for which the digital content isrelevant, wherein each profile group comprises user equipments that areassociated with similar user profiles and/or settings. Each such profilegroup may e.g. comprise one or more of the user equipments 120-123. Thetagging may be added in the BMSC 131 based on the type of digitalcontent and/or according to information provided in the configuration.The tagging may be added to and/or associated with the MBMS packagescomprising the digital content, which packages are sent by the BMSC 131,or it may be done by adding tagging information to the ServiceAnnouncement, see Action 305 below.

Execution of the present action thus makes the digital content availableto all user equipments in the cell 115, including user equipment 120 and121, (if broadcast) or available to multiple, but not necessarily alluser equipments in the cell 115 (if multicast). In the latter case, themulticast may e.g. include user equipment 120 and exclude user equipment121.

Action 305

The BMSC 131 sends a Service Announcement, via the MBMS GW 132, to thebase station 110 for broadcast or multicast in the cell 115. The ServiceAnnouncement comprises information to user equipments, such as userequipment 120, about what digital content is available by the broadcastor multicast. In some embodiments, the tagging discussed above in Action304 may be accomplished by adding tagging information to the ServiceAnnouncement. The Service Announcement may be provided as a servicelayer function by the BMSC 131. One purpose of the Service Announcementis to enable overview of the digital content being provided by thebroadcast or multicast without having to first download the actualdigital content. The Service Announcement may thus e.g. enable fasterknowledge and evaluation of the available digital content by the userequipments, e.g. user equipment 120. However, in some embodiments theremay be no Service Announcement. The Service Announcement is typically,but not necessarily, comprised in a data carousel, which may be referredto as a Service Announcement carousel. In some embodiments with aService Announcement it may e.g. be received via unicast. In e.g. eMBMS,discussed in the foregoing, the Service Announcement carousel may repeatsending Metadata Fragments at predetermined intervals, see e.g. ETSI TS126 346 V9.7.0 (2012-07): Universal Mobile Telecommunications System(UMTS); LTE; Multimedia Broadcast/Multicast Service (MBMS); Protocolsand codecs (3GPP TS 26.346 version 9.7.0 Release 9), Section 5.2 UserService Discovery/Announcement.

The Service Announcement carousel may be provided to the BMSC 131 by oneor more support units 133. The creation and insertion of ServiceAnnouncements in the broadcast or multicast may be arranged to followautomatically based on the digital content that is actually beingprovided by the broadcast or multicast, which is information that may bepresent in and taken from e.g. the BMSC 131, the Broadcast managementunit 130 and/or the one or more support units 133.

Hence, when a Service Announcement is present, it may suffice that theuser equipment 110 is able to receive and read the Service Announcementto be able to find and download the digital content that is provided bythe broadcast or multicast in the cell 115. The Service Announcement maybe transmitted using an MBMS bearer that is default available to userequipments in the service area 105 where the broadcast or multicast isprovided, e.g. to user equipment 120. For example, in LTE and eMBMS,information where to find the Service Announcement may be transmitted ina Multicast Control Channel (MCCH) that is listened to by every userequipment entering a service area where broadcast or multicast isprovided.

However, note that in some embodiments there may be no ServiceAnnouncement. An example of this will be given below in connection withFIG. 4.

Action 306

The user equipment 120 registers, within the user equipment 120, arequest for retrieving the digital content. This may happen at any pointin time when the digital content is being provided by the broadcast orthe multicast in the cell 115 and the Service Announcement may beavailable, according to the previous actions. However, the request beingregistered need not be dependent on when or even if the digital contentis actually available by the broadcast or multicast. The request may beresult from a user generated action, e.g. user selection in anapplication, executing on the user equipment 120, of a file to downloador audio or video stream to view or listen to. The request beingregistered may also follow from an automatically triggered event on theuser equipment, e.g. at a predetermined point in time or followingrelease of some trigger that e.g. new software is available fordownload. Such trigger may e.g. be received by unicast through anapplication, e.g. an application store or application for maintenance ofinstalled applications.

Action 307

The user equipment 120 receives the Service Announcement in response tothe registered request. How and where the user equipment 120 may findthe Service Announcement was discussed above under Action 305.

Action 308

The user equipment 120 checks the received Service Announcement for thedigital content that was requested to be retrieved. It is here and belowassumed that the digital content is found in the Service Announcementand that the user equipment 120 thereby is enabled to receive thedigital content from the provided broadcast or multicast. See furthercomments on this below.

Action 309

The user equipment 120 receives the digital content from the providedbroadcast or multicast, in response to that the user equipment 120 foundthe digital content that was requested in the Service Announcement. Asstated in the previous action it is here assumed that the digitalcontent is to be found in the Service Announcement. If it would not havebeen found, the user equipment 120 may instead have received the digitalcontent via unicast, i.e. in a more conventional way. From a userperspective it may not be possible to tell how the digital content isactually received. However, by retrieval from the broadcast or multicastinstead of unicast it may be possible to deliver an improved userexperience through e.g. quicker response to a request for retrieval,faster download and/or higher quality of service, for reasons discussedin the foregoing.

Embodiments herein relating to a method in the Broadcast management unit130 for providing digital content to the user equipment 120, will now befurther described with reference to the combined signaling diagram andflowchart depicted in FIG. 4.

As may be noted, the difference compared to the combined signalingdiagram and flowchart depicted in FIG. 3 and discussed above, isrelating to the user equipment 120. Actions 401-405 may correspond toAction 301-305 described above and will therefore not be furtherdescribed here. The actions may be taken in any suitable order.

Action 406

The user equipment 120 receives the Service Announcement from the basestation 110. The user equipment may be configured to receive the ServiceAnnouncement automatically, e.g. repeatedly or when in an idle state orin a situation when the user equipment 120 has spare capacity for doingso. This enables the user equipment 120 to identify changes in digitalcontent being provided by broadcast or multicast. How and where the userequipment 120 may find the Service Announcement was discussed aboveunder Action 305.

Action 407

The user equipment 120 receives the digital content from the providedbroadcast or multicast, in response to that the user equipment 120 foundwhere to find the digital content in the Service Announcement. Ingeneral the user equipment 120 may only receive digital content that notpreviously has been received and stored, e.g. when a change in theprovided digital content has been identified in the Service Announcementand which change indicate new digital content that may be relevant forthe user equipment 120. For further comments in this regard, see Action408.

Action 408

The user equipment 120 stores the received digital content in aninternal storage on the user equipment 120. The user equipment 120 maybe configured to receive and store one or more digital content thataccording to the Service Announcement are available in the providedbroadcast or multicast and not previously have been stored in andalready are available in the internal storage of the user equipment 120.

In some embodiments the user equipment 120 may be configured to onlystore digital content that fulfill certain criteria and that notpreviously has been stored in and already is available in the internalstorage on the user equipment 120, i.e. a subset of available digitalcontent in the provided broadcast or multicast. For example, in someembodiments, e.g. as a result from what was discussed above underActions 304, the received digital content is tagged and the storing,i.e. storage in the internal storage, may only be made after it hasfirst been determined that that the digital content is relevant forkeeping based on the digital content that is tagged and a user profileof, and/or setting in, the user equipment 120. For example, as mentionedabove, the digital content may be tagged for one or more profile groupsof user equipments for which the digital content is relevant, whereineach profile group comprises user equipments that are associated withsimilar user profiles and/or settings, e.g. one or more or userequipments 120-123. The user equipment 120 may thus, based on a userprofile or setting of its own that is available on the user equipment120, determine that the digital content is relevant and based on thisstore it in the internal storage.

Action 409

The user equipment 120 registers a request for retrieving the digitalcontent. This action may correspond to Action 306 above.

Action 410

In response to the registered request the user equipment 120 checks theinternal storage for the digital content and retrieves the digitalcontent therefrom. It is here assumed that the digital content has beenstored in the internal storage and thus is found and available forretrieval. If it would not have been found when checking the internalstorage, the user equipment 120 may instead receive the digital contentvia unicast, i.e. in a more conventional way, i.e. similar as in thecase discussed above under Action 309. By retrieval from the broadcastor multicast via the internal storage it is thus possible to deliver aneven more improved user experience through e.g. quicker response to arequest for retrieval, direct availability and/or higher quality ofservice.

In some embodiments with automatic storage in the internal storage asdiscussed above, there may not be used a Service Announcement or similarmessage. For example, instead of being directed to the broadcast ormulticast of the Service Announcement when entering the cell 115 asdiscussed above under Action 305, the user equipment 120 may instead bedirected to a broadcast or multicast of digital content from which theuser equipment 120 may store the digital content in the internal storageas discussed above under Action 408, and then proceed as discussed aboveunder Actions 409-410.

As mentioned above, see e.g. Action 301, the Broadcast Management unit130 decides to provide a digital content by broadcast or multicast inthe service area 105 based on one or more measures and/or parameters.These will now be discussed and exemplified, and examples will be givenhow measures and/or parameters may be combined for taking the decision.

One measure that may be used is how many times the digital content hasbeen requested by user equipments, e.g. including one or more of userequipments 120, 121, 122, 123, in e.g. the cellular communicationsnetwork 100 in general, or in the service area 105 in particular.Providing the measure may involve monitoring traffic from the PDNGateway 142 to the external network 50, and make the resulting measureavailable to the Broadcast Management unit 130. In some embodiments onlya randomly or in some other way selected sub-group of user equipments inthe cellular communications network 100 or in the service area 105 areused to produce the measure. How many times the digital content has beenrequested may comprise how many times in a recent time period, such asthe last hour, the digital content has been requested.

Another measure that may be used is how many user equipments, such asuser equipments 120, 121, 122, 123, e.g. in the cellular communicationsnetwork 100 in general, or in the service area 105 in particular, arerelevant for receiving the digital content at the same time. The measureof how many user equipments are relevant for receiving the digitalcontent at the same time in the service area 105 may be based on one ormore of:

-   -   User profiles and/or user settings associated with said user        equipments.    -   Positions of said user equipments.    -   Movement patterns of said user equipments.    -   Availability of new content to said user equipments.    -   Similarity between a present situation and a historical        situation.

Respective user profile or profiles, and/or setting or settings, of eachof said user equipments, or at least some of said user equipments, maybe available to the Broadcast Management unit 130 in response to thate.g. a respective user of each user equipment, e.g. user equipment 120,has made such available, e.g. by agreement with the operator of thecellular communications network 100, such as in connection withregistering or activating the user equipment 120 in the cellularcommunications network 100. The user equipment 120 may e.g. have a userprofile or setting associated therewith that is indicating that the userequipment 120 is relevant for software updates of installed systemsoftware and/or applications, or is interested in receiving live news.The user equipment 120 may then count as relevant for digital contentrelating to this.

Positions of the user equipments in the cellular communications network100, including e.g. user equipment 120, are typically available in thecellular communications network 100 and may thus be made available tothe Broadcast Management unit 130, at least with the resolution of whichcell a particular user equipment is being located, but often also withhigher resolution. The user equipment 120 may also itself locate itsposition, e.g. by means of a built in GPS-receiver and report it foravailability in the cellular communications network 100 and theBroadcast Management unit. Many user equipments with e.g. a user profileor setting that makes them relevant for the same digital content andthat are located in the service area 105, may result in a decision toprovide the digital content by broadcast or multicast in the servicearea 105. Another example is a large amount of user equipments beinglocated in a particular cell, e.g. cell 115, in the service area 105,which thereby may increase the risk for capacity overload if digitalcontent is provided by unicast. This may be used as a measure that has alowering effect on a threshold that is compared to other measures fortaking a decision to provide certain digital content by broadcast ormulticast in the service area 105.

Movement patterns of user equipments in the cellular communicationsnetwork 100, e.g. including one or more of user equipments 120-124, maybe determined by keeping track of change in the positions of these userequipments. For example may user equipments with a movement patterntowards the service area 105 be used to proactively take decision ofwhat digital content to provide by broadcast or multicast in the servicearea 105. Also, if e.g. there amongst the user equipments moving towardsthe service area 105 is a large amount of user equipments alreadyrequesting certain digital content or whose user profiles and/orsettings are indicating a common interest in certain digital content,this may be utilized to provide such digital content by broadcast ormulticast in the service area even before the user equipments havereached the service area 105.

Availability of new content to the user equipments in the cellularcommunications network 100, e.g. to one or more of user equipments120-123. The availability of digital content may e.g. be a new versionof an installed application or new system software fordownload/installation. If it is known, or can be assumed, that many ofthe user equipments in the service area 105 may be interested indownloading such digital content as soon as or in close connection withit being available, this is a good reason for providing it by broadcastor multicast in the service area 105.

Similarity between a present situation and a historical situation isalso a measure that may be used, e.g. by comparing one or more of theabove discussed measures in a present situation with a situation in thepast that was similar in some regard and/or that resulted in similarmeasures. If the similar situation in the past resulted in a greatdemand for certain digital content and/or made, or would have made, itbeneficial to provide certain digital content by broadcast or multicast,this may be a contributing factor when taking a present decision of whatdigital content to provide by broadcast or multicast in the service area105.

Further measures and/or parameters that may be used for taking thedecision to provide digital content by broadcast or multicast in theservice area 105 may include one or more of the following:

-   -   A minimum number of user equipments, including e.g. user        equipment 120, for receiving the digital content at the same        time in the service area 105 in order for there to be a gain in        resource utilization in the service area 105 by providing the        digital content by the broadcast or the multicast instead of        only letting the digital content be available by unicast.    -   A data type associated with the digital content. For example, it        may be decided to only broadcast or multicast digital content of        certain data types that are particularly known to cause overload        in cell capacity, e.g. digital content relating to software        download and/or live video and/or audio streaming.    -   A size of the digital content. For example, only digital content        above a certain size may be decided to be provided by the        broadcast or multicast.    -   A bandwidth requirement associated with the digital content. For        example, only digital content associated with a certain minimum        bandwidth may be decided to be provided by the broadcast or        multicast.    -   A lifetime of the digital content. If some digital content is        known to only be available a very short time, this may affect        the decision. If e.g. other measures and/or parameters points        toward that the digital content is relevant for many user        equipments, a short lifetime would be contributing to a decision        to provide the digital content by broadcast or multicast. This        since it then may be expected that many user equipments will be        interested to receive the digital content at the same time.

It is understood that the above discussed measures and parameters,although may be used alone or only a few thereof in combination, enablegreat many various combinations but that it is not possible to discussevery combination in detail herein.

Embodiments herein relating to a method in the Broadcast management unit130 for providing digital content to the user equipment 120, will now befurther elaborated and described with reference to the flowchartdepicted in FIG. 5. The user equipment 120 is served by the base station110 in the cell 115 of the cellular communications network 100. The basestation 110 is comprised in the radio access network 102 of the cellularcommunications network 100 and the Broadcast Management unit 130 iscomprised in the core network 101 of the cellular communications network100. The method comprises the following actions, which actions may betaken in any suitable order. Further, actions may be combined.

Action 501

The Broadcast Management unit 130 decides to provide a digital contentby broadcast or multicast in a service area 105 comprising the cell 115,instead of only letting the digital content be available in the servicearea 105 by unicast.

In some embodiments, the decision to provide the digital content bybroadcast or multicast may be based on a measure associated with howmany times the digital content has been requested by user equipments,e.g. User equipment 120, 121, 122, 123, in the cellular communicationsnetwork 100.

Further, in some embodiments, the decision to provide the digitalcontent by broadcast or multicast may be based on a measure of how manyuser equipments, e.g. user equipments 120, 121, 122, 123, are relevantfor receiving the digital content at the same time in the service area105.

In some embodiments, the measure of how many user equipments arerelevant for receiving the digital content at the same time in theservice area is based on one or more of:

-   -   User profiles and/or user settings associated with user        equipments, e.g. user equipments 120, 121, 122, 123, in the        cellular communications network 100.    -   Positions of user equipments, e.g. user equipments 120, 121,        122, 123, in the cellular communications network 100.    -   Movement patterns of user equipments, e.g. user equipments 120,        121, 122, 123, in the cellular communications network 100.    -   Availability of new content to user equipments, e.g. user        equipments 120, 121, 122, 123, in the cellular communications        network 100.    -   Similarity between a present situation and a historical        situation.

Moreover, in some embodiments the decision to provide the digitalcontent by broadcast or multicast may be based on one or more of thefollowing:

-   -   A minimum number of user equipments, e.g. user equipments 120,        121, 122, 123, for receiving the digital content at the same        time in the service area 105 in order for there to be a gain in        resource utilization in the service area 105 by providing the        digital content by the broadcast or the multicast instead of        only letting the digital content be available by unicast.    -   A data type associated with the digital content.    -   A size of the digital content.    -   A bandwidth requirement associated with the digital content.    -   A lifetime of the digital content.

This action may correspond fully or partially to the previouslydescribed Action 301 and Action 401.

Action 502

The Broadcast Management unit 130 provides, in response to the decision,broadcast or multicast of the digital content in the service area 105.This enables reception of the digital content by the user equipment 120via the base station 120 and by one or more additional user equipments,e.g. user equipments 121, 122, 123, being served in the service area105.

In some embodiments, to provide the broadcast or multicast of thedigital content may comprises to provide broadcast or multicast of adata carousel comprising the digital content.

In some embodiments the digital content is tagged in the providedbroadcast or multicast, such that the user equipment 120, based on thetagged digital content and a user profile of or setting in the userequipment 120, is able to determine that the digital content is relevantfor keeping after reception. The digital content may be tagged for oneor more profile groups of user equipments for which the digital contentis relevant, wherein each profile group comprises user equipments thatare associated with similar user profiles and/or settings.

In some embodiments the digital content used in the provided broadcastor multicast is taken from a storage in the cellular communicationsnetwork 100. The digital content has been stored in the storage after ithas been retrieved from the external network 50, such as the Internet,in response to one or more previous requests for the digital content byone or more user equipments in the cellular communications network 100.

This action may correspond fully or partially to the previouslydescribed Actions 302-304 and Actions 402-404.

Action 503

This is an optional action for embodiments herein. The BroadcastManagement unit 130 provides sending of a service announcement forreception by the user equipment 120 via the base station 110. Theservice announcement identifies the digital content and the availabilityof the digital content in the provided broadcast or multicast.

Provide the sending of the service announcement may comprise to providebroadcast or multicast in the service area 105 of a first data carouselcomprising the service announcement.

This action may correspond fully or partially to the previouslydescribed Actions 302-305 and Actions 402-405.

To perform the actions above for providing digital content to the userequipment 120, the Broadcast Management unit 130 may comprise anarrangement schematically depicted in FIG. 6. As mentioned above, theuser equipment 120 is served by the base station 110 in the cell 115 ofthe cellular communications network 100. The base station 110 iscomprised in the radio access network 102 of the cellular communicationsnetwork 100 and the Broadcast Management unit 130 is comprised in thecore network 101 of the cellular communications network 100.

The Broadcast Management unit 130 comprises a deciding circuitry 620,configured to decide to provide the digital content by broadcast ormulticast in the service area 105 comprising the cell 115, instead ofonly letting the digital content be available in the service area 105 byunicast.

The Broadcast Management unit 130 further comprises a providingcircuitry 630, configured to, in response to the decision, providebroadcast or multicast of the digital content in the service area 105.Thereby it is enabled reception of the digital content by the userequipment 120 via base station 110 and by one or more additional userequipments, e.g. user equipments 121, 122, 123, being served in theservice area 105.

In some embodiments the providing circuitry 630 is further configured toprovide the sending of the service announcement for reception by theuser equipment 120 via the base station 110. The service announcementidentifies the digital content and the availability of the digitalcontent in the provided broadcast or multicast.

In some embodiments, the providing circuitry 630 is further configuredto provide broadcast or multicast in the service area 105 of the firstdata carousel comprising the service announcement. Furthermore, in someembodiments the providing circuitry 630 is further configured to providebroadcast or multicast of the second data carousel comprising thedigital content.

The Broadcast Management unit 130 may further comprise a receiving port610 that may be configured to receive information from and be involvedin communication with other units, e.g. the BMSC 131 and the one or moresupport units 133. For example may the receiving port 610 be configuredto, from other parts of the cellular communications network 100, receiveone or more of the aforementioned measures and/or parameters upon whichthe decision to provide the digital content by broadcast or multicast inthe service area 105 may be based.

The Broadcast Management unit 130 may further comprise a sending port640 that may be configured to send information to and be involved incommunication with other units, e.g. the BMSC 131 and the one or moresupport units 133. For example may the sending port 640 be configured tosend aforementioned one or more configurations and/or instructions tothe BMSC 131 and/or the one or more support units 133 in order toaccomplish the broadcast or multicast in the service area 105.

The embodiments of the Broadcast Management unit 130 may be implementedthrough one or more processors, such as a processor 650 in the BroadcastManagement unit 130 depicted in FIG. 6, together with computer programcode for performing the functions and actions of embodiments herein. Insome embodiments the circuitry discussed above may be fully or partiallyimplemented by the processor 650.

The computer program code mentioned above may also be provided as acomputer program product, for instance in the form of a data carriercarrying computer program code for performing the embodiments hereinwhen being loaded into the in the Broadcast Management unit 130. Onesuch carrier may be in the form of a CD or DVD. It is however feasiblewith other data carriers such as a memory stick, memory card or harddrive. The computer program code may furthermore be provided as pureprogram code on a server for download to the Broadcast Management unit130. The computer program code may furthermore be provided in the formof a data file or files on, or available through, a server for download.The file or files may be executable files for direct or indirectdownload to and execution on the Broadcast Management unit 130, or maybe for intermediate download and compilation to make them executablebefore download to and for execution in the Broadcast Management unit130. The server may be accessible over a computer network, such as theInternet, and may e.g. be a web or ftp server.

The Broadcast Management unit 130 may further comprise a memory 660comprising one or more memory units. The memory 660 is arranged to storedata, such as values mentioned above relating to configuration/s and/orthe instructions/s that may be sent to the BMSC 131 and/or the one ormore supporting units 133, and/or to the measures and parameters for thedecision, etc., and configurations and/or applications to perform themethod when being executed in the Broadcast Management unit 130.

Those skilled in the art will also appreciate that the decidingcircuitry 620 and the providing circuitry 630 may refer to a combinationof analog and digital circuits, and/or one or more processors configuredwith software and/or firmware (e.g., stored in memory) that, whenexecuted by the one or more processors such as the processor 650,perform as described above. One or more of these processors, as well asthe other digital hardware, may be included in a singleapplication-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), or several processorsand various digital hardware may be distributed among several separatecomponents, whether individually packaged or assembled into asystem-on-a-chip (SoC).

Embodiments herein relating to a method in the user equipment 120 forreceiving the digital content, will now be further elaborated anddescribed with reference to the flowchart depicted in FIG. 7. The userequipment 120 is served by the base station 110 in the cell 115 of thecellular communications network 100.

The method comprises the following actions, which actions may be takenin any suitable order. Further, actions may be combined.

Action 701

The user equipment 120 registers a request for retrieving the digitalcontent. This action may correspond fully or partially to the previouslydescribed Action 306 and Action 409.

Action 702

The user equipment 120 identifies, in response to the registeredrequest, that the digital content is available from broadcast ormulticast provided in the cell 115 via the base station 110.

In some embodiments, the present action comprises that: The userequipment 120 stores the received digital content in an internal storageindependent on the registered request for retrieving the digitalcontent. The user equipment 120 checks 410 the internal storage for therequested digital content.

The received digital content may be tagged and it is stored after it hasbeen determined that that the digital content is relevant for keepingbased on the digital content that is tagged and a user profile of orsetting in the user equipment 120. The digital content may be tagged forone or more profile groups of user equipments for which the digitalcontent is relevant. Each profile group may comprises user equipmentsthat are associated with similar user profiles and/or settings.

In some embodiments, the present action comprises that: The userequipment 120 receives via the base station 110, a service announcementthat identifies the digital content and the availability of the digitalcontent in the provided broadcast or multicast. The user equipment 120checks the received service announcement for the requested digitalcontent.

This action may correspond fully or partially to the previouslydescribed Actions 307-308 and Actions 408, 410.

Action 703

The user equipment 120 receives, in response to the identifiedavailability, the digital content from the provided broadcast ormulticast via the base station 110 instead of receiving the digitalcontent from unicast via the base station 110.

In some embodiments the service announcement is comprised in a firstdata carousel that is provided by broadcast or multicast in the cell115.

This action may correspond fully or partially to the previouslydescribed Action 309 and Action 407.

To perform the actions above for providing digital content to the userequipment 120, the Broadcast management unit 130 may comprise anarrangement schematically depicted in FIG. 8. As mentioned above, theuser equipment 120 is served by the base station 110 in the cell 115 ofthe cellular communications network 100. The base station 110 iscomprised in the radio access network 102 of the cellular communicationsnetwork 100.

The user equipment 120 comprises a registering circuitry 820, configuredto register the request for retrieving the digital content.

The user equipment 120 further comprises an identifying circuitry 830,configured to identify, in response to the registered request, that thedigital content is available from broadcast or multicast provided in thecell 115 via the base station 110.

In some embodiments the identifying circuitry 830 is further configuredto receive, via the base station 110, the service announcement thatidentifies the digital content and the availability of the digitalcontent in the provided broadcast or multicast, and to check thereceived service announcement for the requested digital content.

In some embodiments the identifying circuitry 830 is further configuredto store the received digital content in an internal storage independenton the registered request for retrieving the digital content, and checkthe internal storage for the requested digital content. The receiveddigital content may be tagged. The identifying circuitry 830 may beconfigured to store the received digital content after it has beendetermined that that the digital content is relevant for keeping basedon the digital content that is tagged and a user profile of or settingin the user equipment 120.

The user equipment 120 also comprises a receiving port 810, configuredto, in response to the identified availability, receive the digitalcontent from the provided broadcast or multicast via the base station110 instead of receiving the digital content from unicast via the basestation 110.

The user equipment 120 may further comprise a sending port 840 that maybe configured to send information to and be involved in communicationwith the base station 110.

The embodiments of the user equipment 120 may be implemented through oneor more processors, such as a processor 850 in the user equipment 120depicted in FIG. 8, together with computer program code for performingthe functions and actions of embodiments herein. In some embodiments thecircuitry discussed above may be fully or partially implemented by theprocessor 850.

The computer program code mentioned above may also be provided as acomputer program product, for instance in the form of a data carriercarrying computer program code for performing the embodiments hereinwhen being loaded into the in the user equipment 120. One such carriermay be in the form of a CD or DVD. It is however feasible with otherdata carriers such as a memory stick, memory card or hard drive. Thecomputer program code may furthermore be provided as pure program codeon a server for download to the user equipment 120. The computer programcode may furthermore be provided in the form of a data file or files on,or available through, a server for download. The file or files may beexecutable files for direct or indirect download to and execution on theuser equipment 120, or may be for intermediate download and compilationto make them executable before download to and for execution in the userequipment 120. The server may be accessible over a computer network,such as the Internet, and may e.g. be a web or ftp server.

The user equipment 120 may further comprise a memory 860 comprising oneor more memory units. The memory 860 is arranged to store data, such asthe Service Announcement during and after it has been received, andconfigurations and/or applications to perform the method when beingexecuted in the user equipment 120.

Those skilled in the art will also appreciate that the registeringcircuitry 820 and the identifying circuitry 830 may refer to acombination of analog and digital circuits, and/or one or moreprocessors configured with software and/or firmware (e.g., stored inmemory) that, when executed by the one or more processors such as theprocessor 850, perform as described above. One or more of theseprocessors, as well as the other digital hardware, may be included in asingle application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), or severalprocessors and various digital hardware may be distributed among severalseparate components, whether individually packaged or assembled into asystem-on-a-chip (SoC).

Many embodiments and examples that have been described and discussedherein relate to LTE and LTE based systems, in particular such that hasbeen enhanced with MBMS functionality, such as eMBMS. However, this isnot to be construed as limiting embodiments herein to only LTE basedcellular communications networks and not necessarily to only cellularcommunications networks enhanced with MBMS functionality.

Generally, embodiments herein are not limited to the above describedpreferred embodiments. Various alternatives, modifications andequivalents may be used. Therefore, the above embodiments should not betaken as limiting the scope of the invention, which is defined by theappending claims.

When using the word “comprise” or “comprising” it shall be interpretedas non-limiting, i.e. meaning “consist at least of”.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A method in a broadcast management unit forproviding digital content to a user equipment being served by a basestation in a cell of a cellular communications network, wherein the basestation is comprised in a radio access network of the cellularcommunications network and the broadcast management unit is comprised ina core network of the cellular communications network, wherein themethod comprises: choosing, based on one or more parameters, multicastor broadcast transmission for transmitting the digital content in aservice area comprising the cell instead of unicast transmission; inresponse to choosing the multicast or broadcast transmission of thedigital content, initiating the multicasting or broadcasting of thedigital content, thereby enabling reception of the digital content bythe user equipment via the base station and by one or more additionaluser equipments being served in the service area, wherein the digitalcontent is tagged in the provided broadcast or multicast, wherein,whether or not the digital content is relevant for reception by the userequipment, is determined based on the tag provided in the digitalcontent and a user profile of or setting in the user equipment, andwherein choosing the broadcast or multicast transmission is based on atleast one of a measure of a number of times the digital content has beenrequested by user equipments in the cellular communications network, anda measure of number of user equipments that are relevant for receivingthe digital content at the same time in the service area; and sending aservice announcement for reception by the user equipment via the basestation, wherein the service announcement identifies the digital contentand the availability of the digital content in the provided broadcast ormulticast.
 2. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein sending theservice announcement comprises providing broadcast or multicast in theservice area of a first data carousel comprising the serviceannouncement.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the providing of thebroadcast or multicast of the digital content comprises providingbroadcast or multicast of a second data carousel comprising the digitalcontent.
 4. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the measure of howmany user equipments are relevant for receiving the digital content atthe same time in the service area is based on one or more of: userprofiles and/or user settings associated with the user equipments in thecellular communications network; positions of the user equipments in thecellular communications network; movement patterns of the userequipments in the cellular communications network; availability of newcontent to the user equipments in the cellular communications network;and similarity between a present situation and a historical situation.5. The method of claim 1, wherein the choosing is based on one or moreof the following: a minimum number of user equipments for receiving thedigital content at the same time in the service area in order for thereto be a gain in resource utilization in the service area by providingthe digital content by the broadcast or the multicast instead of onlyletting the digital content be available by unicast; a data typeassociated with the digital content; a size of the digital content; abandwidth requirement associated with the digital content; and alifetime of the digital content.
 6. The method of claim 1, wherein thedigital content is tagged for one or more profile groups of userequipments for which the digital content is relevant, wherein eachprofile group comprises user equipments that are associated with similaruser profiles and/or settings.
 7. The method of claim 1, wherein thedigital content used in the provided broadcast or multicast is takenfrom a storage in the cellular communications network, in which storagethe digital content has been stored after it has been retrieved from anexternal network in response to one or more previous requests for thedigital content by one or more user equipments in the cellularcommunications network.
 8. A method in a user equipment for receivingdigital content, the user equipment being served by a base station in acell of a cellular communications network, wherein the base station iscomprised in a radio access network of the cellular communicationsnetwork, wherein the method comprises: registering a request forretrieving a digital content, identifying, in response to the registeredrequest, that the digital content is available from broadcast ormulticast provided in the cell via the base station, receiving, inresponse to the identified availability, the digital content from theprovided broadcast or multicast via the base station instead ofreceiving the digital content from unicast via the base station, whereinthe received digital content is tagged in the provided broadcast ormulticast, and wherein, whether or not the digital content is relevantfor keeping, is determined based on the tag provided in the receiveddigital content and a user profile of or setting in the user equipment;and storing the received digital content in an internal storage when thereceived digital content is determined to be relevant for keeping,receiving, via the base station, a service announcement that identifiesthe digital content and the availability of the digital content in theprovided broadcast or multicast, and checking the received serviceannouncement for the requested digital content.
 9. The method as claimedin claim 8 , wherein the service announcement is comprised in a firstdata carousel that is provided by broadcast or multicast in the cell.10. The method of claim 8, wherein the digital content is tagged for oneor more profile groups of user equipments for which the digital contentis relevant, wherein each profile group comprises user equipments thatare associated with similar user profiles and/or settings.
 11. Abroadcast management unit for providing digital content to a userequipment served by a base station in a cell of a cellularcommunications network, wherein the base station is comprised in a radioaccess network of the cellular communications network and the broadcastmanagement unit is comprised in a core network of the cellularcommunications network, wherein the broadcast management unit comprises:a deciding circuitry, configured to choose, based on one or moreparameters, multicast or broadcast transmission for transmitting thedigital content in a service area comprising the cell instead of unicasttransmission, and a providing circuitry, configured to, in response tochoosing the multicast or broadcast transmission of the digital content,initiating the multicasting or broadcasting of the digital content,thereby enabling reception of the digital content by the user equipmentvia the base station and by one or more additional user equipments beingserved in the service area, wherein the digital content is tagged in theprovided broadcast or multicast, wherein, whether or not the digital isrelevant for reception by the user equipment, is determined based on thetag provided in the digital content and a user profile of or setting inthe user equipment, and wherein the deciding circuitry is configured tochoose the broadcast or multicast transmission based on at least one ofa measure of number of times the digital content has been requested byuser equipments in the cellular communications network and a measure ofnumber of user equipments are relevant for receiving the digital contentat the same time in the service area, and wherein the providingcircuitry is further configured to provide sending of a serviceannouncement for reception by the user equipment via the base station,wherein the service announcement identifies the digital content and theavailability of the digital content in the provided broadcast ormulticast.
 12. The broadcast management unit as claimed in claim 11,wherein the providing circuitry is further configured to providebroadcast or multicast in the service area of a first data carouselcomprising the service announcement.
 13. The broadcast management unitof claim 11, wherein the providing circuitry is further configured toprovide broadcast or multicast of a second data carousel comprising thedigital content.
 14. The broadcast management unit as claimed in claim11, wherein the measure of how many user equipments are relevant forreceiving the digital content at the same time in the service area isbased on one or more of: user profiles and/or user settings associatedwith the user equipments in the cellular communications network;positions of the user equipments in the cellular communications network;movement patterns of the user equipments in the cellular communicationsnetwork; availability of new content to the user equipments in thecellular communications network; and similarity between a presentsituation and a historical situation.
 15. The broadcast management unitof claim 11, wherein the choosing the multicast or broadcasttransmission of the digital content is based on one or more of thefollowing: a minimum number of user equipments for receiving the digitalcontent at the same time in the service area in order for there to be again in resource utilization in the service area by providing thedigital content by the broadcast or the multicast instead of onlyletting the digital content be available by unicast; a data typeassociated with the digital content; a size of the digital content; abandwidth requirement associated with the digital content; and alifetime of the digital content.
 16. The broadcast management unit asclaimed in claim 11, wherein the digital content is tagged for one ormore profile groups of user equipments for which the digital content isrelevant, wherein each profile group comprises user equipments that areassociated with similar user profiles and/or settings.
 17. The broadcastmanagement unit of claim 11, wherein the digital content used in theprovided broadcast or multicast is taken from a storage in the cellularcommunications network, in which storage the digital content has beenstored after being retrieved from an external network in response to oneor more previous requests for the digital content by one or more userequipments in the cellular communications network.
 18. A user equipmentfor receiving digital content, wherein the user equipment is configuredto be served by a base station in a cell of a cellular communicationsnetwork, wherein the base station is comprised in a radio access networkof the cellular communications network, wherein the user equipmentcomprises: a registering circuitry, configured to register a request forretrieving a digital content, an identifying circuitry, configured toidentify, in response to the registered request, that the digitalcontent is available from broadcast or multicast provided in the cellvia the base station, a receiving port, configured to, in response tothe identified availability, receive the digital content from theprovided broadcast or multicast via the base station instead ofreceiving the digital content from unicast via the base station, whereinthe received digital content is tagged in the provided broadcast ormulticast, and wherein, whether or not the digital content is relevantfor keeping, is determined based on the tag provided in the receiveddigital content and a user profile of or setting in the user equipment,and wherein the identifying circuitry is further configured to store thereceived digital content in an internal storage when the receiveddigital content is determined to be relevant for keeping, and whereinthe identifying circuitry is further configured to receive, via the basestation, a service announcement that identifies the digital content andthe availability of the digital content in the provided broadcast ormulticast, and to check the received service announcement for therequested digital content.
 19. The user equipment as claimed in claim18, wherein the service announcement is comprised in a first datacarousel that is provided by broadcast or multicast in the cell.
 20. Theuser equipment as claimed in claim 18, wherein the digital content istagged for one or more profile groups of user equipments for which thedigital content is relevant, wherein each profile group comprises userequipments that are associated with similar user profiles and/orsettings.